Sylvania



May 26, 1931. J'. Q. WALTON MARINE PUMPING SYSTEM I Filed March 28.19:50 2 Shee tsSheet 1 INVENTOR John Q. Watcon.

ATTORNEY .May 26, 1931. J. Q. WALTON 1,806,725

' MARINE PUMPING SYSTEM Filed Mafch 28. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 V INVENTORI? John Q.Walton ATTORNEY l W ESS I5 Patented May 26, 1931 UNITED STATESPAT JOHN Q. WALTON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ASSIGNOR TOWESTING- HOUSE EIJiXT/"lRIC AND MANUFACTURING SYLVANIA COIEPANY, ACORPORATION OF PENN- lliABiINE PUMPING SYSTEM Application filed Mar-eh28,

tems for rapidly removing the water from.

a ships bilge or from compartments of a ship which have become floodedand it has for an object to provide a system of the character designatedwhich shall be capable of removing water from the ship at a highly rapidrate and which shall have adequate capacity for removing large quantties of water which may enter the ship in times of serious accident.

Heretofore, it has been customary to provide all ships with a bilgepumping system for periodically removing relatively small quantities ofwater which normally accumulate in the various compartments. However,pumping systems of this character, as ordinarily provided, do not havesufiicient capacity for maintaining the buoyancy of the ship at suchtimes as a serious accident" has occurred and the inrush of water lntothe ship has attained extraordinary propor-' tions. If the pumpingsystem of the prior art were so enlarged as to give it the requiredcapacity to cope with the emergency situations of this nature, theweight and the space occupied by such a system would attain such largeproportions asto make the idea impractical.

It has, therefore, been proposed to pro.

vide a bilge or salvage pumping system which embodies a pump or pumpsof'the propeller type, a pump of this type having already been developedwhich, although relatively small in size and relatively low in weight,

is capable of translating tremendous quantities of water at highvelocity. It there for becomes practical, by utilizing pumps of thischaracter, to provide a bilge fpump-,

of the propeller type so arranged, in relation to the ships hullstructure, as to occupy a minimum amount of space, entail a mini- 1930;Serial No. 439,798.

mum amount of weight and require very little o'r'no connecting piping.

It has for a further object to provide a bilge or salvage pumping systemof the fore going character which shall be so arranged that it may bereadily applied to existing ships without involving serious alterationsin the ships structure and withoutrequiring the extension of any pipingto the upper side of those portions of the'ship which contain the livingquarters.

These and other objects are efiected by my invention, as will beapparent from the following description and claims taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, forming a part of, this application, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a view, in transverse section, of a ship provided with oneform of pumping system arranged in accordance with my lnventlon;

Fig. 2 1s a detail view, in sectional elevation,

ofthe pump and sea chest embodied in the pumping system shown in Fig. 1;and,

Flg. 8 1s a view, in elevation, of another ENTQ OFFICE embodiment of myinvention, wherein the.

pump slidably extends through the ships inner bottom.

' In accordance with my invention, I propose to telescope the pumpingapparatus within the inner bottom or tank top of the ship with the inletof the pump located adjacent to the upper surface of the tank top andthe discharge of the pump extending toward and being directly connectedto the skin of the-ship. In this way, a considerable portion of the'pumpis housed between the inner bottom andthe skin of the ship while, at thesame time, very little or, in some case's, no suction piping is requiredfor the pump. With such an arrangement,

the ships structure readily lends itself to provlde an adequatesupporting structure for the pump.

Referring now'to Fig. 1 of the drawings,

I show a ships hull indicated generally at 10 andincluding a shell orskin 11 and an inner bottom or tank top 12. An upper or main deck isrepresented at 14. 1

Secured to and communicating with the exterior of the skin 11 of theship is a discharge sea chest 15 upon which is mounted a sea valve 16.Telescopically arranged within the inner bottom or tank top 12 is apropeller pump 17 which is mounted upon the sea valve 16. An opening 18is provided in the inner bottom through which the pump 17 may beinserted, the latter be ing preferably arranged telescopically withrespect to the tank top or inner bottom.

As shown particularly in Fig. 2, the propeller pump 17 embodies ahousing or body portion 19 having a laterally-extending, annular inletportion 20, and axially-extending throat portion 21 and anaxially-extending, diverging portion 22 terminating in an outlet 23. Thelower wall 20 of the annular intake portion 20 is preferably secured bysome means, such as rivets 24, to the inner bottom or tank top in orderthat the pump may effect a water-tight joint, 25, with the tank top andthus maintain the water-tight integrity of the latter.

Disposed in the throat portion 21 of the pump body is a screw propeller26 retained upon a tapered portion 27 of a pump shaft 28 by means of anut 29. Disposed below and adjacent to the propeller 26 are a pluralityof circumferentially-spaced, stationary ,guide vanes 31, which guidevanes converge toward a central conical or fairing member 32 having anouter diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the propeller hubin order to provide a smooth annular passageway for the watercirculating through the pump. Disposed within the conical member 32 is abearing 33 which cooperates with a reduced diametral projecting journalportion 34 of the pump shaft 28 to maintain the latter in axialalignment.

Disposed above and supported upon the inlet annulus 20 of the pump is amotor such as, for example, a steam turbine 35 for driving the propeller26. As shown, the turbine embodies a casing 36 in which is housed aturbine rotor wheel 37 secured to the pump shaft 28 by means of a nut38. Suitable turbine blades 39 are spaced about the periphery of theturbine wheel 37 in a manner well understood in the art. The casing 36is provided with a steam inlet 41 and an exhaust outlet 42, the steaminlet 41 communicating, in the turbine casing 36, with a suitable nozzlechamber 42 for directing the steam against the turbine blades. Forpreventing leakage of steam between the turbine casing 36 and the pumpshaft 28, a suitable sealing gland 43 is provided. Suspended from theturbine casing 36 is a thrust bearing housing 44 supporting a thrustbearing 45. The latter cooperates with a collar 46 on the pump shaft 28for supporting the pump shaft as well as the propeller 26 and theturbine rotor wheel 37 in proper axial position.

The sea valve 16, being located below the inner bottom or tank top ofthe ship, is preferably provided with an operating gear for facilitatingopening and closing movements of the same. As shown in Fig. 1, thisoperating gear may, for example, comprise a pair of bevel gears 47, oneof the gears being provided on the stem of the valve and the other gearupon an operating rod 48 projecting upwardly through the inner bottom12. With an operating gear of this character, a gate valve of the typewhich has a non-rising stem is preferably employed. Where the operatingrod 48 pr0- jects through the inner bottom 12, a suitable stuffing box49 is provided in order to afford a fluid-tight joint.

Provided on the steam inlet 41 of the turbine is a throttle valve 51.While the throttle valve 51 and the sea valve 16 may be operatedindependently of each other, I prefer to operate them concurrently froma common operating gear. Accordingly, I provide, on the operating rod48, a pinion 52 meshing with a gear 53 provided on the stem of thethrottle valve. As the stem of the sea valve 15 may require many moreturns to effect full opening or closing movements than the stem of thethrottle valve 51, the gears 52 and 53 are preferably so proportionedthat the gear 52 on the operating shaft 48 effects several turns to oneturn of the gear 53 on the throttle valve stem. WVith such anarrangement, both Valves may be concurrently opened or closed by propermanipulation of the operating rod 48.

When it is desired to utilize the pump 17 for removing limitedquantities of Water from the bilge in more or less of a routine manner,the rod 4-8 may be operated by means of a hand wheel 54 which is readilyaccessible from the floor plating. However, in times of seriousemergency, it may be desirable to manipulate the rod 48 from some upperdeck and, hence, I preferably extend the operating rod 48 upwardlythrough the main or weather deck 14 and provide it with a supplementaryhand wheel Should by any chance, some obstruction prevent closure of thesea valve 1-3, there is associated with the inlet 20 of the pump 17 avalve 56, which valve may be utilized to seal off the inlet of the pumpand prevent flooding of the ship when the pump has been stopped. Asshown in Fig. 2, the inlet annulus 20 of the pump is provided with upperand lower seats 57 and 58 while the valve 56 is made annular and isprovided with circular valve faces 59 and 60 which cooperate,respectively, with the seats 57 and 58 to effect a seal. As shown infull lines in Fig. 2, the inlet annulus 20 of the pump is unsealed bylifting the valve 56, a plurality of circumferentially-spaced,radially-extending 'erably, the valve is raised ribs 61 being providedin the valve, which ribs have bearing surfaces 62 engaging the inlet ofthe pump for guiding the opening and closing movements of the valve.Pref.- 7 approximately one halfthe height of the inlet annulus 20 andthe water is free toenter the latter by flowing in the directionsindicated by the arrows. When closed, the valve assumes the positionindicated indot and dash lines.

Preferably, the valve 56 is raised and lowered by a separate operatinggear 63 embodying an operating rod 6& having a hand wheel 65 operablefrom a position adjacent to the pump and a hand wheel 66 operable froman upper deck. The rod 64 engages,

y means of a screw thread 67, the hub portion 68 of a yoke 69 secured tothe valve 56. Therod 64 may be supported at its lower end in a bearing71 carried by the casing of the turbine 35. Rotational movement of the4o. pulated to effect simultaneous opening of the 4.5, result, theturbine is energized and the chest 15 and thence to the sea.

water as fast as it enters.

the pump is preferably solocated that its yoke69 and the valve 56 may beprevented by. a stationary guide pin 72 projecting through a hole in theyoke.

As shown in Fig. 1, the pump 17 is preferably located in a separatewater-tight compartment or coffer dam 73 formed between the innerplating structure 12 and the shell 11 by partitions 7 and 7 5 whichextend longitudinally between two frames of the ship.

From the foregoing description, the operation of my improved pumpingsystem will be apparent. Assuming, first of all,

that the ship has been involved in some serious accident that its hullstructure has quantities of sea water to pour into the ship;immediately, the buoyancy of the ship is endangered. At a time likethis,either the hand wheel 54 or the hand wheel 55 is manithrottle valve 51and the sea valve 16. In case. the valve 56 is not already disposed inan'open position, the operating gear 63 is also manipulated to raise thevalve 56. As a propeller 26 is rotated. V The water flooding into theship enters the annular intake 20 of the pump 17 and is discharged bythe propeller through the outlet 23 to the sea heretofore, pumps of "thepropeller type are capable of handling very large quantities of water athigh velocities and, hence, with. the form of arrangement proposed, itis perfectly feasible to install a pump of such large capacity that eventhough the ship be seriously damaged and the inrush of water reachextensive proportions, the pump has adequate capacity for removing theThe buoyancy of the ship is therefore main ained and foundering isprevented.

As will be apparent fromthe drawings As stated if in the art that itannular intake 20 is disposed adjacent to the inner bottom so that nosuction piping is required. Furthermore, a considerable portion of thepump is housed between the inner bottom'and the skin of the ship so thatonly a small portion of the pump projects above the floorplating. Thedischarge portion of the pump projects directly toward the skin of theship and, hence, the only connections intervening between it and theskin of the ship may be the sea chest and the sea valve. After the Wateris removed from the ship, the sea valve 16is closed and the pump 17 isthen stopped. If, by any chance, some obstruction may prevent closure ofthe sea valve 16, the valve 56 is lowered to a closed position beforestopping the pump.

In Fig. 1, I show an arrangement wherein the pump is supported in partupon the inner bottom or the tank top and in part upon the skin of theship and wherein the pump and its connecting valve or sea chest arerigidly secured in a fluid-tight manner to both the inner bottom or tanktop'and the skin of the ship. However, I may, as shown in Fig. 3, soarrange the pump that the inner bottom is displaceable relative to thepump. This may be accomplished by providing a suitable opening 61 in theinner bottom or tank top through which the pump body projects. Securedto the inner bottom or tank top about the opening 61 is a reenforcingring 62 upon which agland body 63 is secured. Suitable packing 64: aswell as a suitable gland 65 are associated with the gland bod ina mannerwell understood in the art.- 0th the gland body 63, as well as the gland65 are split diametrically in order to. facilitate assembly anddissembly. By means of the foregoing arrangement the pump ma be axiallydisplaced relative to the inner ing the water-tight qualities of theinner bottom or tank top. 7 r

In the foregoing embodiments, I have shown a single pump associated witha single ships compartment. However, it will be obvious that, inproviding a complete bilge or salvage pumping system for a large shipincluding a substantial number of watertight sub-divisions orcompartments, a pumpingsystem of the character shown in the drawings maybe provided for each or for several of the compartments. By providinga-multiple pumping system of this character, it will be large shipsafloat for indefinitev periods of time even though they be seriouslydamaged and there be a constant inrush of'sea water into one or more oftheir compartments.

While I have shown my invention in two forms, it will be obvious tothose skilled is not so limited, but is various other changes andwithout departing from the susceptible of modifications ottom or tanktop without affectpossible to maintain very spirit thereof, and Idesire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereuponas are imposed by the prior art or as are specificially set forth in theappended claims.

hat I claim is 1. The combination with a ships structureembodying ashell and an inner plating structure spaced from the shell, of apropeller pump disposed, at least in part, between the inner platingstructure and the shell, said pump having its axis of revolutionextending transversely of the inner plating structure and the shell andhaving an inlet connecting with the inner side of the in ner platingstructure and an outlet extending axially of the pump and disposedadjacent to the shell, and means including a sea chest and a sea valvefor connecting the outlet of the pump to the shell and for supportingthe pump from the shell.

2. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and an innerplating structure spaced from the shell, of a pump extending through theinner plating structure and having its inlet portion disposed interiorlyof the inner plating structure and its outlet portion disposed betweenthe inner plating structure and the shell, and means for connecting thepump outlet portion with the exterior of the shell.

3. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and an innerplating structure spaced from the shell, of a pump having its inletport-ion located interiorly of and adjacent to the inner platingstructure and its outlet portion projecting through the inner plating inthe direction of the shell, and means for connecting the outlet portionof the pump to the exterior of the shell.

4c. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and aninner plating structure spaced from the shell, of a pump supported uponand depending from the inner plating structure of the ship, said pumphaving its inlet communicating with the space above the platingstructure, and means for connecting the outlet of the pump to the shellof the ship.

5. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and an innerplating structure spaced from the shell, of a pump extending through theinner plating structure of the ship, said pump embodying an inletlocated on the inner side of the inner plating structure and an outletlocated 011 the outer side of the inner plating structure, and means forconnecting the outlet to the exterior of the shell of the ship andproviding for supporting the pump from the shell of the ship.

6. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and an innerplating structure spaced from the shell, of a pump extending through theinner plating structure of the ship, said pump embodying an inletlocated on the inner side of the inner plating structure and an outletlocated on the outer side of the inner plating structure,'means forconnecting the outlet to the exterior of the shell of the ship andproviding for supporting the pump from the shell of the ship, and meansfor effecting a fluidtight oint between the inner plating structure andthe pump.

7. The combination with a ships struc-.

ture embodying a shell having a discharge opening provided therein andalso embodying an inner plating structure spaced from the shell, of apump body extending through the inner plating structure and having aninlet annulus located inwardly of the inner plating structure and anoutlet located adj acent to the shell of the ship, means including a seavalve for connecting the outlet to the discharge opening in the shell ofthe ship, a propeller disposed in the pump body and arranged to receivewater from the annulus and to discharge the same to the outlet, and amotor for driving the propeller mounted upon the annulus.

8. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell having adischarge opening provided therein and also embodying an inner platingstructure spaced from the shell, of a pump body extending through theinner plating structure and having an inlet located inwardly of theinner plating structure and an outlet located between the in ner platingstructure and the shell and extending toward the shell of the ship,means including a sea valve for connecting the outlet to the dischargeopening in the shell of the ship, a propeller disposed in the pump bodyintermediate of its inlet and its outlet, stationary guide vanesdisposed on the discharge side of the propeller and within the pump bodyfor removing the twist or swirl of the water discharged by thepropeller, and a motor for driving the propeller lo- 1cated interiorlyof the inner plating strucure.

9. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and an innerplating structure spaced from the shell, of a pump having alaterally-extending inlet connecting with the inner side of the innerplating structure, an axially-extending outlet dlsposed between theinner plating structure and the shell and a propeller disposed betweenthe inlet and the outlet for translating fluid therebetween, a sea chestprovided on the shell of the ship and connecting with the outlet of thepump and a motor for driving the pump located inwardly of the innerplating structure, said motor,

propeller, and sea chest being disposed in axial alignment.

10. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and aninner plating structure spaced from the shell, of a sea chest mountedupon the inner side of the the sea valve, said propeller pump having anaxially-extending outlet connecting with the sea valve and alaterally-extending inlet disposed on the inner side of the innerplating structure, and a motor mounted upon the pump for driving thesame.

11. The combination with a ships'structure embodying a shell and aninner plating structure spaced from the shell, of a propeller pumpextending through the inner plating structure and having an inletcommunicating with the inner side of the inner plating structure and anoutlet located between the inner plating structure and the shell, meansincluding a sea valve for con necting the outlet of the pump to theexterior of the shell of the ship, said sea valve being located betweenthe inner plating structure and the shell of the ship, and means foroperating said sea valve from the inner side of the inner platingstructure.

12. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and aninner plating structure spaced from the shell, of a propeller pumpextending through the inner plating structure and having an inletcommunicating with the inner side of the inner plating structure and anoutlet located between the inner plating structure and the shell, meansincluding a sea valve for connecting the outlet of the pump to theexterior of the shell of the ship, said sea valve being located betweenthe inner plating structure and the shell of the ship, a motor locatedon the inner side of the inner plating structure for driving the pump,means for controlling the supply of motive energy to the motor, and acommon control system for operating both the sea valve and the motiveenergy controlling means, said control system beand means for operatingsaid control system both from below and above the upper deck of theship. 7

14:. The combination with a ships structure embodying a shell and aninner plating structure spaced from the shell, of a bilge or salvagepump disposed, at least in part, between the inner plating structure andthe shell, said pump having an inlet and an outlet and having its inletcommunicating with the inner side of the inner plating structure, meansfor connecting the pump outlet with the exterior of the shell, and meansforming. a separate, water-tight compartment for the pump between theinner plating structure and the shell.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th dayof March,

JNO. Q. WALTON.

ing operative on the inner side of the inner plating structure.

13. The combination with a ships structure embodying an upper deck, ashell and an inner plating structure'spaced from the shell, of a pumpextending through the inner plating structure for removing water fromthe inner side of the inner plating structure, said pump having itsoutlet located between the inner plating structure and the shell, meansincluding a sea valve for connecting the outlet of the pump with theexterior of the shell of the ship, said sea valve being located betweenthe inner plating structure and the shell, a motor for driving the pumplocated on the inner side of r the inner plating structure, means foradmitting motive energy to the motor, a common control system for boththe seavalve and the motive energy admission means,

